What, After All, Constitutes “Bad Criminal Record”?

Abstract

This article addresses the concept of “bad criminal record,” a well-known yet still insufficiently defined and understood institute in criminal law; its objective is to revisit the subject in light of Precedent No. 444 of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) and the case law that preceded it, including decisions from both the STJ and the Federal Supreme Court (STF); the study identifies several inconsistencies in approximately forty judicial decisions as well as in the formulation of the precedent itself, and proposes a more precise definition; due to the interconnected nature of criminal procedure, the article also examines related issues, such as the practical application of legal principles and the intrinsic validity of judicial evidence.